[QUOTE=Migalley]As for the most fun game on the Wii that would have to be Mario Galaxy which was truly innovative.[/QUOTE] How so? I'm surprised you of all people are claiming this, because Galaxy certainly doesn't strike me as being innovative. It makes little use of the motion controls and it doesn't play all that differently from Super Mario 64, so I'm at a loss as to how you think it's "innovative".

Oh, and I certainly don't think it's the most fun game on Wii, either; I've enjoyed Excite Truck far more than I have Mario Galaxy.

Mario is like a once-great football player who still gets into the Pro Bowl every year based on reputation alone. I have consistently noticed the ridiculous grade-inflating that major game magazines/websites give to every traditional Mario game that Nintendo releases. Name alone makes every Mario game one of the greatest games of all time, or so you would think based on review scores (for example, the incredibly pedestrian Super Mario Sunshine [GC, 2002] has a 92 average on Metacritic, and an A- from the Critic).

Reputation can always lead to score padding when the game is above average, and Critic I think you'd have to agree that if you remove Mario and nostalgia from those games, the score definitely takes a hit. Everyone gives bonus points just for having "Mario" in the title. But normally, although you do this also, I'd say you are far more fair in applying this reputation+nostalgia score boost to games.

But after looking into your old reviews and seeing that you gave New Super Mario Bros. (DS) an A+, I'm not sure I can trust this one. New Super Mario Bros was WORSE than the 20 year old NES games, so that A+ score just blew me away. NO Yoshi, NO flying, lame power-ups, and below average level design by Mario standards. Sure, it was a good platformer on its own merits, maybe even great... but when you take steps backward from a 20 year old game, I don't understand how you reward that with an A+. When New SMB released in 2006, SMB3 and SMW were STILL both miles ahead of that new release. New SMB did nothing but water those games down. (And yet, a particularly unfortunate hedgehog takes a hit to his review scores, partly because they don't live up to the standards set in the Genesis era [though, trust me, I'm not claiming the current games in that series are better than the current Mario games... I'm just pointing out the double-standard].)

I have a feeling that New SMB Wii probably follows the same lame, water-down formula of the DS game (albeit with a few features re-added into the game, like Yoshi), so I just can't see it being an A. Heck, you gave SMW an A (further reason New SMB should have been no more than an A-)! I will reserve full judgment until I play it, but it will definitely be a rental first.

Wow, what a silly thread. Of course New Super Mario Brothers Wii is great. I literally want to play it every day and I do. It is extremely well made, controls very well (the Wii controller turned on its side works perfectly fine IMO) and while a "classical" platformer there are plenty of interesting new ideas and twists, such as the motion controlled tilting platforms and new suits.

Obviously there is always going to be people that don't like something, just like there are a few mutants that like Wii Music (myself, lol).

Does Mario get some credit due to reputation? Yeah, cause that is human nature... not Mario's fault really. But if you changed the characters around to something different you would have the same excellent gameplay regardless.

Anyway, props to the Dead Space review, I wasn't sure about that one, now I'll probably put it in the oll' Gamefly que soon. Ffor ther record, Dead Space Extraction didn't sell because EA did not market it in any way whatsoever, because they thought it was already dead on arrival based on Madworld and other M rated Wii titles. A shame.

[QUOTE=SONIC]Mario is like a once-great football player who still gets into the Pro Bowl every year based on reputation alone. I have consistently noticed the ridiculous grade-inflating that major game magazines/websites give to every traditional Mario game that Nintendo releases. Name alone makes every Mario game one of the greatest games of all time, or so you would think based on review scores (for example, the incredibly pedestrian Super Mario Sunshine [GC, 2002] has a 92 average on Metacritic, and an A- from the Critic).

Reputation can always lead to score padding when the game is above average, and Critic I think you'd have to agree that if you remove Mario and nostalgia from those games, the score definitely takes a hit. Everyone gives bonus points just for having "Mario" in the title. But normally, although you do this also, I'd say you are far more fair in applying this reputation+nostalgia score boost to games.

What some people here seem to be forgetting is that the VGC grades in comparison to games for that system. Comparing the score of New Super Mario DS to New Super Mario Wii isn't relevant on this site. Comparing those scores to the NES Mario games is even sillier.

Maybe if the VGC had a special 'Mario Platformer Ranking Regardless of Platform' section it would be an entirely different matter and more open to discussion/arguing.

I picked up NewSMBWii recently and my fiancee and I are having a blast. The constant bumping into each other can be fatal at times but it can also be useful. I think it's a clever game play mechanic. It kind of forces you to communicate with the person sitting next to you to let them know you're going to attempt a jump. "Don't go yet I'm going to try something" or "Can I bounce off your head to catch some air?"

Ha Ha, that's pretty funny, the critic also brought something similar to that up at the end of his review, "Take note Sega!" That's funny, although I would say "Mario = Sonic" I could never pick between the two, both characters have games that are very fun. Both the old ones and the new ones.

As for the review, I have never played New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but I plan on getting it for my birthday, which is coming up soon. Many other critics have said that this game is very hard, did you find it to be very hard? The multiplayer is the main draw for me, and, apparently, nobody likes it. Well, since I only have two Wii remotes, I can only go up to two players, which doesn't seem nearly as clumsy as four players.

Just got Dead Space a couple of weeks ago and played it for a few hours last night, the first game I've played in months. So far it seems like a terrific game. The quick-moving-enemies-that-only-take-a-couple-of-shots-to-kill formula in this game is WAY better than the slow-enemies-that-absorb-a-ton-of-bullets formula in the Resident Evil light gun game.

Well I finally had a chance to play more multiplayer and crazy as it is - I loved it!

I am not sure having charachters that did not overlap would neccesarily be better. It is fun to fight and screw people but also I played with a 5 year old and when they could not catch their Yoshi when knocked off so I would just swallow them with mine and spit them on the back of theirs! Also you can butt stomp people off of Yoshis and you get the saddle and they hit the turf! Made it fun - also the kid got left behind on the final Bowser fight and oh how I laughed when they followed the dragon into the pit when I tripped the bridge! XD

Also I found an oversight in the physic engine - if you butt stomp over one of those spinning land masses your charachter will be 'pulled' either foward or backward with the wheel - defing gravity - to land on the spot that was under you when you pushed the down button! Neat effect on the fast 'wheels' especially.

Man I have found and played some of the later special hidden and special worlds and they are fantastic. The skull rollercoaster - awesome sauce! Special ice level is a crazy fun keep your butt moving level! Best. Wii. Game. Ever. Move over Wii Sports!

Critic you predicted this would be the best selling Wiii game - well I am not sure it will beat Wii Fit or Wii Play - but check out this chart - lol, already the 9th best selling Wii game! : http://www.vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?game1=New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii[35076]

Can you say sequel?! This game even has Japan going Wii crazy again, that seals the deal - soon we will have Galaxy 2 - I thought 'Wii XXXX' series would overshadow Mario but damn - he is making it a fight! Wii is easily going to be the best Nintendo console ever the way it is going. The quality nintencore titles are getting ridiculous.....!

[QUOTE=steer]Wii is easily going to be the best Nintendo console ever the way it is going. The quality nintencore titles are getting ridiculous.....![/QUOTE] Meh, the SNES has great Nintendo games AND great third party titles. I know this has been said many, many times already, but until they get more high quality third party games it isn't Nintendo's best console.

[QUOTE=David][QUOTE=steer]Wii is easily going to be the best Nintendo console ever the way it is going. The quality nintencore titles are getting ridiculous.....![/QUOTE] Meh, the SNES has great Nintendo games AND great third party titles. I know this has been said many, many times already, but until they get more high quality third party games it isn't Nintendo's best console.[/QUOTE]

Seriously?

They have plenty of high quality 3rd party titles - the normal 'rub' on them is 'they don't sell 20 million! like some games! on Wii! [But we dont care if a game sells really well - that is the paradox - it don't make a game good if it sells well, don't mean nothing but it is horrible if a game does not sell like gangbusters on Wii.... : ( > ]

Plus look at the digital distribution - wiiware and even VC to an extent....no comparison. Not even a fair comparison but it aint like the guy who won the gold mebal in the 1900 olympics is gonna even QUALIFY for the 2012, ya know?

The ONLY thing you got is Wii has very few 3rd parties building so called 'epic' cinematic games and that is a niche genre anyhow. Heck, (and not that I care personally) even games like Modern Warfare make their way over after a couple of years. With better control.

Face it David, that is not a good argument, Wii has all the bases coverd we could list pages of quality 3rd party offerings (especially compared to the SNES) and the 1rst party has NEVER been better, I say this as a life longer....

Cripes even 2-d came back in a big way this gen, and arcade games - what more do you want???